Hat steamer



March 17, 1942. R. c. UTLr-:Y ET Al.

HAT STEAMER 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed' Jan. 9, 1941 Patented Mar. 17, 1942I UNITED HAT STEAMER Ray C. Utley and Arthur Feilchenfeld, Jr.,

Chicago, Ill.

Application January 9, 1941, Serial No. 373,738

(Cl. 21S-38) 4 Claims.

The present invention has for its object to produce a simple, novel andefficient portable apparatus for generating steam rapidly and deliveringit for the purpose of steaming hats or other things.

The various features of novelty whereby our invention is characterizedwill hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in thel claims; but,for a full understanding of our invention and of its objects andadvantages, reference may be had to the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, where- Figure 1 is aside elevational View of an apparatus embodying the present invention;Fig. 2 is an end view of the apparatus; Fig. 3 is'a bottom plan View ofthe apparatus, on an enlarged scale, the central portion of a bottomcover plate being broken away; Fig. 4 is a vertical section through oneof the electrical terminals, being a section on an enlarged scale, online 4 4 of Fig. 5; Fig. 5 is a horizontal section, on the same scale asFig. 3, taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 6; and Fig. 6 is a vertical sectionapproximately on line 6 6 of Fig. 5, the upper part of the apparatusbeing broken away.

Referring to the drawings, I represents a suitable dat base I which mayconveniently be a metal casting. Rising from and integral with the base,near one end of the latter, is a reservoir 2 open at the top and soshaped that a bottle, such as indicated at A., may be placed upon thesame upside down and discharge water into the reservoir when and asneeded.

The reservoir is symmetrically disposed with respect to the longitudinalcenter of the base as are also two short sleeve-like projections 3rising from and formed integral with the top of the base between thereservoir and the far end of the base.`

There is a passage 4 extending through the metal of the top of the basealong the longitudinal center of the latter from a point under thereservoir past the two sleeve-like projections. One end of this passagecommunicates with the interior of the reservoir through a port 5 leadingup through the effective bottom of the reservoir; and it alsocommunicates with the interiors of the sleevelike projections throughports or short passages l. Screwed into the members 3 are two verticalpipes 'I which are shown as being long enough to extend somewhat abovethe up-ended bottle. The upper ends of the pipes 'I are connectedtogether by a hollow head 8 terminating in a wide iiat nozzle 9. Thehead may be provided with means adapted to be placed in telescopedrelation with both of the pipes. In the arrangement shown, the head isprovided with two short tubular downward extensions Il] adapted to iitinto the upper ends of the pipes; the head being held against accidentaldisplacement by means of screws II extending through the upper ends ofthe pipes and into the parts I0. Surrounding the lower end of each ofthe pipes is a heating coil I2.

Assuming that a full, open bottle is up-ended and set upon thereservoir, water will flow therefrom until it reaches a predeterminedlevel in the reservoir, at the same time flowing through the port 5,passage 4 and ports 6 into the lower ends of the pipes 'I where it risesto the same level as in the reservoir. Then, when the heating coils areenergized, those portions of the pipes surrounded thereby become so hotthat steam is quickly generated, rising through the pipes and beingdischarged through the nozzle. As water is transformed into steam, thewater level in the apparatus drops and additional water leaves thebottle to overcome the deficiency. lThus, a constant supply of water isdelivered to the pipes as steam is being generated and discharged.

The heating coils may be composed of metal ribbons wound over a suitableinsulating covering on the pipes. In the arrangement shown, thoseportions of thek pipes surrounded by the heating coils are provided witha coating I4 of enamel or the like baked thereon; this coating beingoverlaid with a layer I5 of mica or the like. The heating elements areprotected from contact with outside objects by a suitable detachablecover or casing I6 having in the top openings through which the pipes Iextend. After removing the head member with its nozzle from the upperends of the pipe, this casing or housing can be slid up along the pipesuntil it is free from the same.

The bottle which we have illustrated is of a commercial type having ascrew cap B. We have found that one need only punch a hole C ofconsiderable size in the center of this cap to insure automatic feedingat the maximum rate at which steam can be generated, without danger ofspilling the water upon initially placing a bottle in position. Thismakes it unnecessary to employ any special fittings for cooperation withthe bottle neck.

We have found that when steam is generated very rapidly, it is apt tocarry unvaporized water along with the same, thereby causing the steamto be too wet as it leaves the nozzle. This diihculty is overcome bysimply placing in each of the pipes a long central rod II along whichare distributed little disks I8 of wire mesh; these disks being largeenough to be at least a loose lit within the corresponding pipes. Withthis arrangement, water carried along with the steam coalesces on thelittle wires constituting the disks and it is thus separated from thesteam which emerges at the nozzle in a dry condition. As the water onthe disk accumulates into drops, these drops fall back into the bottomof the pipes and into the body of Water that is being heated to makesteam.

Current may be supplied to the heating elements in any suitable way. Inthe arrangement shown, there is iiXed in the hollow under part of thebase, at one end, a terminal block le provided with suitable terminalpins 29 to which a cord may be attached. Conductors 2l extend from thisblock underneath the base to suitable terminals which are in turnconnected to the heating coils. One of these terminals is illus tratedin detail in Fig. e, Referring to this iig ure, 22 is a thick-walledtube or sleeve of insulating material resting on top of and rising fromthetop wall of the base I and having at the lower end a short section ofreduced diameter tting into a hole 2li.l in that wall. On the undersideof said wall, in registration with the sleeve 22, is a similar, butshorter sleeve 25. A long screw' 2G extends up through the sleeves 25and 22 and has on the upper end thereof an elongated sleeve nut 2l. Anend of one of the conductors 2i is inserted under the head of the screw2S and, when the nut 2l is` tightened on the screw, this wire is clampedinto good electrically conductive relation therewith while, at the sametime, the screw with the insulating sleeves 22 and 25 form a rigid postiixed. to the base. ThevnutZl is so long that the screw 2 8 extends onlya short distance into the same. 1 large` hole or passage 2 8 extendsdiametrically through the nut 21 at such a point that the free end ofthe screw 25 is exposed therein when the nut is tightened. Cooperatingwith the upper end of the nut 2l is a second, shorter screw 29 which,when screwed down as far as it will go, engages with the upper or freeend of the screw 26.; this meeting of the two screws taking place withinthe transverse opening or passage 28. The parts are so proportioned thatwhen the screw 29 is backed off, corresponding ends of the two heatingcoils may be inserted in this opening or passage, from opposite sides,and overlap each other in the spacebetween the near ends of the twoscrews. Then, when the screw 29 is screwed farther down into the nut, itengages with the upper of the two overlapping heating coil ends andpresses both of them down against the upper end of the screw 26. Thus,by simply inserting the corresponding ends of the two heating coils inthe transverse passage in ther long sleeve nut, and tightening thescrew23 both coil ends are brought into good electricallyy conductiverelation to the screw 2S and, consequently, to the leading-in wire 2|.

The base member I is shown as taking the -form of a shallow invertedpan, the open side of which maybe closed, so as to conceal the wires andthe terminal screws 25, by a stiff piece ofber board Bt that may besprung into position beyond little ears 3l formed integral with the sidewalls of the pan.

It will thus be seen that we have produced a very simple and ruggedapparatus, and one which cannot easily get out of order, for rapidlygenerating steam and discharging it in a dry state so as to be availablefor steaming hats or other goods without making them too wet. Becausethe apparatus is compact and light, it may be operated at any place thathappens to be most convenient at any given time, all that is neededbeing a bottle full of water and a cord adapted to be plugged into thenearest socket or outlet from the local lighting system. By placing theheating coils on the outside of the steam generating pipes, a largeheating surface is obtained; and what is perhaps even more important, nospecial provision need be made to avoid wetting the heating coilsbecause no water can reach them. It will also be seen that the electriccurrent is carried to the coils from underneath the base in such amanner that there is no danger of grounding.

Vhile we have illustrated and described with particularity only a singlepreferred form of our invention, we do not desire to be limited to theexact structural details thus illustrated and dee scribed; but intend tocover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions ofour invention constituting the appended claims.

W e claim:

1. In an apparatus oi the character described, a base, a reservoirintegral with the base rising from the latter, a pipe having an openingat the upper end also rising from the base, a heating means consistingentirely oi a coil surrounding the lower part of the pipe, means tomaintain a constant water level in the lower part oi said pipe, and acasing surrounding the pipe above the base and slidable upwardlyr on thopipo .for enough to expose said heating coil.

2. In an apparatus of the character described` a base, an open-toppedbottle-supporting receptacle and two short sleeve-like projectionsintegral with and arranged in a row on tcp of the base, said base havinga passage connecting the bottom of the reservoir with the interiors ofsaid projections, two pipes fixed at their lower ends insaidprojections, means to heat said pipes, and a hollow head terminatingin a nozzle mounted on and connecting together the upper ends of saidpipes.

3. In an apparatus oi the character' cescribed, a base, a stand pipeopen to atmosphere at its upper end mounted on the bese, means to.maintain a constant water level in the pipe. means to heat the pipe tovaporize the water, and a baille device in the pipe comprising asupporting rod and a plurality of wire mesh disks distributed along therod and forming open-work partitions across the interior of the pipe.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a base, a stand pipe opento atmosphere at its upper end mounted on the base, means to maintain aconstant water level in the pipo, means to heat the pipe to vaporize thewater, and a barile device arranged loosely in said pipe, said bailledevice comprising a rod and a plurality of openwork disks distributedalong the same and Iorm ing partitions across the interior of the pipe.

RAY C. UTLEY. ARTHUR FEILCHENFELD, J

